


I'm Feeling Cheerful Already

by Chash



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 20:00:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4933381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke refuses to have a thing for Bellamy Blake, for legitimate reasons. Even if he's kind of cute when he's all sick and grumpy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Feeling Cheerful Already

**Author's Note:**

> I was sick and grumpy, so you know. Things happened.
> 
> Also, totally unrelated to this fic, but might as well mention it, I'm taking holiday prompts over on tumblr until October 10! If you'd like me to write you something, check out [this post](http://chasholidays.tumblr.com/post/130298996786/holiday-prompts-open). You will need to have a tumblr, sorry.
> 
> (Yes, I am going to note this on my fics until October 10, I hope it won't be too annoying. And if you're reading this after October 10, it's too late, and I'm sorry. I hope the future is cool and we got those hoverboards Back to the Future promised us.)

Clarke is not developing feelings for Bellamy Blake, for a lot of reasons.

First, he's her boss, and it is, in general, a bad idea to have feelings for your boss. Even if she just works part-time at the coffee shop, even if she doesn't _need_ the job, it's unprofessional and ill-advised. And he's a good boss, which means she'd like to keep the job, and also means he definitely won't be developing feelings back. Good bosses don't have feelings for their employees.

Second, he's a flirt. He's one of those effortlessly charming guys who has a smile for every pretty girl, and she's made fun of him on more than one occasion for using those charms to sell people baked goods they don't want. Which just makes him grin at her and say that it's not his fault he's so beautiful. It doesn't even make _sense_ , honestly, because he's a great flirt but still manages to be the biggest dork she's ever met, so--yeah. He probably doesn't do relationships or something, and Clarke finished with random hookups freshman year, once she sorted out her sexuality to firmly bi.

Third, he's an actual part of her social circle, because she's friends with his sister now, and his friend Miller is dating her roommate Monty, so if she screwed stuff up with him with some stupid romantic attraction, it wouldn't just affect her job, it would affect her friendships, and she might not get to hang out with Octavia anymore, and Lincoln would be totally heartbroken, because he's trying to make a move on her.

So, yeah. She absolutely does not and will not have a thing for Bellamy. He's just her boss. And her friend. Her hot boss/friend. Her hot boss/friend whom she in no way wants to make out with.

Definitely, absolutely does not.

So she's not at all disappointed when Octavia shows up at ten on a Wednesday and says, "Hey, Clarke, I'm taking Bell's shift."

Clarke frowns. "Why?" Octavia almost never covers shifts at the coffee shop; she's at school with Clarke, and Bellamy considers it a matter of pride that his sister can afford to not work. Which mostly just means Octavia picks up odd jobs other places, because she likes having _some_ amount of spare money, and she thinks her brother is an idiot.

"Because he's sick and I told him he's not allowed to interact with the general public," Octavia says, rolling her eyes. "He's the most annoying sick person of all time, he just whines the whole time and refuses to ask for help, and then he's grumpy when I don't know what he wants. Honestly, half the reason I took the shift was just so I wouldn't have to hang out with him." She looks abruptly guilty, and Clarke hides a smile. "I mean, obviously if he was _really_ sick I'd be there for him, but it's just a cold, so I figured it would be better for everyone if I took his shift and he stayed home in a miserable blanket pile watching Ken Burns documentaries."

"I can't tell if you're joking or not."

"No, all of that was totally true," says Octavia, putting on her apron. "Anyway, anything exciting happening here?"

Clarke fills Octavia in on weird customers of the morning (which is always what Octavia means when she asks about exciting things at the coffee shop) and tries to forget about Bellamy not being around. Which mostly works. Octavia is definitely _supposed_ to be her favorite Blake, and in any logical universe she would be, because Octavia is hot and awesome and not a weird, grumpy, semi-hermit who loves history documentaries, but--well, Clarke apparently doesn't live in a logical universe.

Octavia calls Bellamy at one-thirty and Clarke does her best to not eavesdrop, but she's never actually witnessed a Bellamy/Octavia phone call that does not devolve into one or both of them screaming, so it's pretty much impossible for her to not overhear Octavia yell, "Oh my god, you have to _eat_ , Bellamy! If you don't have any food, go get it! You have a cold, you can still walk, right?" Clarke snickers, and Octavia rolls her eyes. "Clarke thinks you're ridiculous. If you don't get yourself something, I'm going to send her to check on you. And she's not as nice as I am."

"Hey," Clarke protests mildly. "I'm very nice."

"I will totally send Clarke. She's pre-med, she will kick your ass."

"I'm not sure you understand what pre-med means," Clarke says. "We heal the sick, we don't beat them."

Octavia hangs up with a sigh. "But, seriously, could you check on him? I think he's just being grumpy, but he probably won't eat unless someone brings him food. He's pathetic."

Checking in on someone when they're sick definitely falls under acceptable things to do for friends, and, honestly, Clarke would be pretty disappointed if he didn't do the same for her, so--it's probably fine. This is well within normal friendship parameters. It's definitely not that her Wednesday would be emptier without Bellamy in it.

She is in total control of her life.

"Yeah, I could do that," she says. "I _am_ pre-med. I know all the right kinds of soups to buy sick people."

"And how to kick his ass."

Clarke inclines her head. "And how to kick his ass," she grants. "But that's unrelated to pre-med."

She grabs chicken soup and some nice rolls from the deli by her apartment and then heads over to Bellamy and Octavia's place. She's been there a few times, for movie and game nights, but it's not really a frequent hangout spot. And she's never been there when it's just the two of them.

Of course, Bellamy's sick, so it's not like this is going to be a sexy time. And she's not interested in him. For many very good reasons. 

But then he opens the door, dressed in rumpled pajamas, wearing a pair of glasses, scowling, and, honestly, for a sick person, he's very cute.

"Fuck, O didn't actually send you, did she? Jesus." He rubs his face. "I'm going to murder her. Don't you have better shit to do?"

"Apparently not," she says, bright. "Did you eat? She said you hadn't eaten. I brought soup."

"I don't need soup," he grumbles.

Clarke rolls her eyes and pushes past him into the apartment. There's a pile of blankets on the couch, with a box of kleenex, some medicine, and a glass of water, so he could be doing worse taking care of himself. "You say you don't need soup, but you aren't telling me you ate. So I'm assuming you didn't, and you do need soup."

"You must have something better to do," Bellamy says.

"Repeat after me, _I have not eaten, thank you for bringing me soup_."

He sighs. "I have not eaten, thank you for bringing me soup. You can go now."

"Nope," she says, cheerful. "Octavia said you were watching documentaries, I don't want to miss out. I haven't taken much history, I need to be, you know. Enriched."

He glares half-heartedly. "You don't have to feel sorry for me."

"I really do. You look completely pathetic right now. It is actually impossible to not feel sorry for you." She gives him a gentle shove. "Go sit down. I'm going to get this soup in a bowl."

"I can eat it out of the container," he says, but he goes back onto the couch without too much protest, wrapping himself back in his blankets. He's kind of adorable.

In a friendly way.

"I can pour soup into a bowl, Bellamy. You're sick, you deserve to be pampered a little."

"Tell Octavia that."

She finds a bowl and dumps soup into it, and then rips up the bread and finds butter. It looks kind of nice, and Bellamy seems to be mildly terrified of it.

"Are you trying to nurture me?" he demands, poking the roll.

"I'm trying to help." She flops down next to him. "I'm sorry you're sick," she adds, nudging his shoulder. "It's a lot less fun kicking you when you're down."

"Thanks." He worries his lip, poking at the soup. "I really am watching history documentaries," he says.

"And I really like history documentaries." She settles in on the couch, getting comfortable. "Just eat your stupid soup."

He's quiet for all of ten minutes, and then he says, "Don't you have class?"

" _Bellamy_."

"You're an employee, you shouldn't feel obligated to--"

"I'm your friend," she says. "I like you, dumbass."

Bellamy looks like he wants to fight about this, but--god, who fights about being _friends_ , seriously? He's ridiculous.

"I'm going to fall asleep and drool all over you," he finally says, stabbing a hunk of roll into the soup like he thinks it needs to be killed before he can eat it. 

"I'm going to draw on your face," she says, and restarts the documentary.

He does fall asleep pretty much as soon as he finishes the soup, but not on her, just curled up on the couch in a pathetic little ball, and Clarke watches him more than she watches the documentary.

She doesn't know exactly when she falls asleep, but she stirs awake when the door opens, finds herself half on top of Bellamy, with his arm thrown over her hip, all casual affection.

Octavia is looking at them with some bemusement.

"You're still here? Don't you have class? Or--didn't you, I guess."

Clarke tries to untangle herself from Bellamy, but he makes a soft noise and tugs her closer. He's very strong and very firm, a lot more than she realized. He probably has all kinds of muscles under his shirt and--this isn't even a little platonic, it's so bad. She gives up on moving and resigns herself to cuddling. It's clearly _terrible_. She's not enjoying it at all.

"I guess I must have fallen asleep," she admits. "And now I can't get away."

Octavia rolls her eyes. "Well, good thing I bought a ton of food. Wake him up, I've got Thai. He likes spicy shit when he's sick, he says it clears his nose up."

She wanders into the kitchen, and Clarke manages to turn herself around enough in Bellamy's arms to shake him. His eyes flutter open, raking up and down her, taking her in, and then his mouth curves in a soft smile, one she's never seen before, and he cups her cheek in his hand and kisses her.

For a second, Clarke can't think, and then she's just kind of--stupidly happy, sliding her mouth against his, pressing closer.

Then she realizes his mouth tastes disgusting and he's sick and maybe delirious, and if that wasn't enough to ruin the moment, he breaks away to start coughing, and she jumps off the couch like it's on fire.

Bellamy looks vaguely stricken, but he's also still coughing, and when he tries to get up, he's too tangled in blankets and nearly falls over, so Clarke actually has to catch him, and that's when the ridiculousness kicks in, and she starts laughing.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," he says. He's trying to sound grumpy, but he clearly thinks it's funny too. "I,uh, I might have been a little confused. When I woke up. Can I say I was delirious? Like, I've got a fever or something?"

"You don't have a fever," she says. "You have a cold."

"Okay, yeah, but--we could pretend I was delirious. I know that was, you know. Really inappropriate. I just forgot why I was waking up with you and I thought--" He rubs the back of his neck. "Inappropriate, yeah. Sorry. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or like you can't--"

"Bellamy," she says, through a swell of giddy excitement. "You're fine, okay?"

"I'm sick."

"You're sick, yeah, but--I'm not mad at you." She slides her hand down to take his, squeezing his fingers. "If you weren't sick, I'd be kissing you again, okay?"

"Oh," he says. He wets his lips and looks down at her. "So I'm, uh, not just going to totally freak you out if I--I know I'm a lot older than you and your boss and it's kind of creepy and--"

"You're twenty-six, you're a giant dork, and I can get another job if that's really going to bug you, but--no, stop worrying." She takes a chance, reaches up with her free hand to push his sweaty curls off his forehead, and her heart flips over when he smiles.

"So--"

"So, this is adorable and all," Octavia says, dry, "but I want to eat before you guys give me fucking cavities, okay? I _told you_ she wasn't going to freak out and sue you, Bell."

"It could be construed as sexual harassment," Bellamy mutters, and Clarke tugs him toward the table.

"And things like this are why I'm not worried," she says. "But seriously, we're gonna eat, you're gonna get some sleep and feel better, and then you can ask me out on a date. And I will not be worried about my part-time job I use to get art supply money, so--stop freaking out." She pats him on the arm. "You're cute, Bellamy."

"I try," he says. He scowls at his sister. "Did you buy me curry?"

"I like how he says this like I'm an asshole," Octavia says to Clarke, rolling her eyes. "Yes, I bought you food, it's like I don't want you to starve to death in a pile of blankets. Stop being a dumbass, Bell. If you die from a cold, you're never gonna get to ask Clarke out on a real date, and then I'll have to deal with _her_ moping."

Bellamy glances at her, and she gives him a bright smile. "That's true, I'll definitely mope if you die," she says, and grabs a thing of dumplings.

Her next shift isn't until Friday, and Bellamy is back behind the counter, looking a little tired, but mostly better. The smile he offers her is a new one, shy and a little embarrassed, and Clarke grabs her apron and pulls it on before bumping her shoulder against his. "So, I'm quitting."

"What?" he asks, looking panicked.

"I figure you're going to stress out about dating me and being my boss, and I already found a new job, but it would be a lot harder to find a new boyfriend or girlfriend, so, yeah. I can do a full two weeks notice if you want, but up to you."

He stares for a minute, and then he's grinning at her. "It would be really irresponsible of me to kiss you right now, right? We're gonna have customers any minute. I'm supposed to be a responsible small-business owner."

"We both get off shift at five," she points out, patting him on the chest. "Think you can make it four hours?"

"Not really," he says, grinning, but the bell over the door jangles and a group of students come in, so Clarke goes over to help them. She can feel Bellamy watching her, and it makes her grin too. Stupid grin. It's nice.

He makes it three hours and fifty minutes; she's teasing him about his mess of an apartment and suddenly he's watching her like he hasn't seen her before, and then he traps her against the counter and they're kissing again, so much better than last time, his mouth warm and insistent, his hands on her hips, her hands tangled in his hair.

The bells over the door jangle again and they startle apart, Bellamy smiling sheepishly, flush on his cheeks. 

Wick, who's relieving Clarke, whoops, and Clarke grins at him. "Hey, I'm quitting!"

"Thank god, I was so worried I was gonna walk in on you guys doing something I could never unsee," he says.

"I can fire you," Bellamy grouses, and Wick grins.

"If you fire me, I can't relieve you early and let you go get dinner with your girlfriend."

Bellamy pauses and then says, "I reserve the right to fire you later, if you don't shut up."

"You always say that."

Bellamy turns back to her. "So, uh, you want to get dinner with me? I know a couple places."

"I don't know," she teases, grinning. "My throat's been feeling a little scratchy, I might be getting sick--"

She's laughing as she follows him out, and she actually _does_ get his stupid cold a few days later, but that's okay. He comes by with soup and Ken Burns' National parks documentary, and she thinks that developing feelings for Bellamy Blake wasn't really so bad. All things considered.


End file.
